Gold Futures Rise to Six-Month High on Ukraine Tensions

March 14 (Bloomberg) -- Gold futures climbed to a six-month
high as mounting tensions between Russia and Ukraine boosted the
metal’s appeal as a haven asset.

The U.S. and the European Union are threatening sanctions
if Russia doesn’t back down from annexing the Black Sea province
of Crimea, which is holding a referendum in two days to join
Ukraine’s former Soviet-era master.

Gold has gained 14 percent this year amid the standoff over
Crimea and signs of slowing global economic growth. A gauge of
world equities fell for the sixth session, the longest slump
since November 2012.

“We’re seeing investors shift out of riskier assets like
the stock market and into the safety of gold,” Phil Streible, a
senior commodity broker at R.J. O’Brien & Associates in Chicago,
said in a telephone interview.

Gold futures for April delivery rose 0.5 percent to settle
at $1,379 an ounce at 1:39 p.m. on the Comex in New York.
Earlier, the price reached $1.388.40, the highest since Sept.
10. Trading was 40 percent higher than the average in the past
100 days, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

This week, the metal gained 3 percent, the most in a month.
Russia warned that Ukraine’s government has lost control of the
country, fueling concern that the Kremlin may extend a military
intervention. Six hours of talks between U.S. Secretary of State
John Kerry and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov failed to
ease the conflict.

Faltering China

The MSCI All-Country World Index of equities has dropped
2.3 percent this week on concern that China’s economy is
faltering.